As an Imperial general, Otto got involved in the Galactic Civil War, a galaxy-wide conflict between the Empire and a resistance group called the Rebel Alliance. Though overzealous and loyal to Galactic Emperor Palpatine to the point of fanaticism, he lost many key battles to the Rebels during the early stages of the war.[3] He was also rumored to have been a drug addict.[7] Otto's career may have been damaged by his major blunders had it not been for another intervention of Admiral Motti, who saved him from the wrath of Darth Vader, the Emperor's second-in-command and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. Thanks to the machinations of Motti, Otto was quietly shipped to the planet of Lok, a desolate world in the Outer Rim Territories, where he was tasked with manning a massive Imperial outpost. On the disused wasteland of Lok, Motti hoped that his embarrassing friend would maintain a low profile.[1]

Instead of fighting against organized crime on Lok, Otto chose to make an arrangement with its members. The general reached an understanding with Nym, the pirate leader of the Lok Revenants, promising that his activities would not be interfered with if he refrained from attacking the Imperial outpost.[8] Despite his arrangements, Otto once faced a brutal assault on his outpost led by a notorious local mercenarywarlord, but his troops were able to thwart that attack. The general also experienced trouble with his fellow members of the Empire. According to the discharged SergeantMoore, Otto was also at odds with other Imperials on Lok who sought to keep their activities secret from the general. Those activities included a miningfacility where gasses and minerals were extracted, and the associated research facility, where a new type of grenade was being developed.[3]

At some point following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, a defunct R4-seriesagromech droid that had once belonged to Otto fell into the clutches of the Sulfur Lake Pirates, who maintained a hideout on Lok. The droid's memory core, however, ended up in the hands of the mercenary Vana Sage, who wanted to blackmail Otto based on its contents. Around the same time, the Rebel hero Han Solo sent one of his agents to cause mayhem in the Imperial outpost and show General Otto that being assigned on a backwater planet was not going to be easy. Otto confronted the Rebel agent that had come to torment him,[3] but despite being a martial artist,[9] the Imperial was beaten during the showdown. However, the general successfully escaped his opponent before being killed. Ultimately, the Rebel intruder returned to Solo to claim their reward, leaving Otto with combat injuries and hurt feelings.[3]

While he was manning the Lok outpost, General Otto sported dark brownhair and a horseshoe-shaped mustache.[3] However, by the time of Jabba's demolition derby, the general looked very different. He had gained excessive weight, his hair had gone entirely white, and he had grown a full beard with two points.[1] As an officer, Otto was thought to lack dignity in his manners and appearance,[7] and even the Rebel hero Han Solo thought of him as unimportant, rather than a serious threat. At the time, Otto had no compunction about turning a blind eye to Lok's criminality, and the climate between the general and the other Imperials stationed there remained unsettled.[3]

In spite of his grandfatherly looks, his fancy uniform[1] and his poor reputation,[3] Otto was still a dangerous individual. As a derby fighter, he suffered delusions of grandeur and a misplaced sense of superiority that fueled his sense of pugnacity.[1] He was convinced that he had become the most powerful being in the Known Universe[12] and that nothing or no one could stop him.[1] Among his many flaws, if rumors about him were true, the general was addicted to the mind-altering spice.[7] In fact, Otto would sometimes threaten his defeated opponents with a transfer to the Spice Mines of Kessel.[1] Despite being a deserter and a self-obsessed man, General Otto maintained a certain degree of loyalty toward the Empire and Palpatine, as he would sometimes enter the demolition contests yelling "Long live the Emperor!"[1]

As part of his Imperial officer training, General Otto was a master of ranged combat using blaster carbines. He had also learned the rudiments of Teräs Käsi, a weaponless martial art.[9] He was also capable of piloting his modified AT-ST all by himself, while manning that vehicle normally required two crewmen, a pilot, and a gunner.[13]

In the Lok Imperial Outpost, Otto simply wore the Empire's standard uniform, which consisted of a double-breasted grey tunic with matching trousers, black leatherbelt, black boots, and a hat. On the left side of the upper chest, he sported a single Imperial code cylinder and the insignia of an army general. His cap and belt were also equipped with an officer's disc,[3] which contained coded information.[14] When taking part in Jabba's contests, he wore a garish version of an Imperial Army trooper dress uniform with red pants, a golden plastron, a blue cape and a wide array of medals and festoons. He also wore a fancy rank plaque made of twelve golden squares.[1]

In Star Wars: Demolition, depending on the player's success, Otto could either win the tournament, which led him to fulfill his dream, or lose it, which had him to turned over to a pair of Imperial stormtroopers by one of his fellow contestants, Boba Fett, and ultimately left at Darth Vader's mercy.[1] Otto's AT-ST walker was the first vehicle created for the game. It was also a favorite of the graphician Edvard Toth, who modeled some and textured all vehicles in Star Wars: Demolition.[15]

The general also appeared in the now-defunct MMORPGStar Wars Galaxies. Originally, Otto in Star Wars Galaxies did not appear like he did in Star Wars: Demolition.[3] However, the events depicted in Galaxies occurred between 0 and 3 ABY,[16] a few years at best before Jabba's demolition games. Otto's appearance in Galaxies was later changed by the developers so he would wear a mustache, but he still looked younger, taller, and thinner than his Demolition incarnation.[3] In the 2000 video game, Otto was shown to be overweight and a head shorter than two stormtroopers, while his Galaxies incarnation was of average height with a smaller waistline.[3]

In Star Wars Galaxies, Rebel players could be tasked by Han Solo with fighting and killing Otto. In actuality, the general would not die. Once the player got his health to 10%, Otto would yell "Aaaah! Get away from me!!" and run away by despawning.[3]